Your hosts once again for this edition are Lynn Desjardins and Marc Montgomery
ListenOn this edition Lynn starts us off.
She takes a look at the situation regarding the massive and highly abnormal flooding in Canada’s western provinces, especially Manitoba.
It seems that the rains causing the floods are the result of a changing climate. There has been flooding in the past, but never to this extent .
It’s usually caused by melting snow in the spring, while the summers prove to be a semi-arid period. There are summer rain storms of course, but they have always tended to be relatively localized and pass quickly.
Now, the frequency of multiple-day rainfall events over the prairies, and which cover vast areas has increased in some places by 50 per cent.
Lynn speaks to professor John Pomery, director of the Centre for Hydrology at the University of Saskatchewan.
Canada’s National Farmer’s Union (NFU) is currently campaigning against a government proposal (Bill C-18) which would adopt the international convention called UPOV-91, which many other farming groups around the world are also opposing.
The NFU is also against the negotiations of an international trade deal called CETA- the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement.
The NFU contends that these two things combined give multinational corporations like Monsanto and other plant breeders, enormous powers of control over the seed supply.
The trade deals also make it virtually impossible to fight the giant companies in the event of a dispute.
Marc speaks to Terry Boehm, Chairman of the NFU Seed and Trade Committee about their concerns
Another group has concerns about a major entertainment event.
The Calgary Stampede is billed as a celebration of Canada’s western cowboy life and culture and as “the greatest outdoor show on earth”.
There are parades, top entertainers, midway rides, concessions, and of course lots of livestock and rodeo events.
Animal rights groups are protesting the rodeos, especially the chuck wagon races, which they say are dangerous and have resulted in the deaths of several animals over the years.
Terry speaks to the CEO of the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, Barbara Cartwright, at her office in Ottawa.
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